A lá Carte

1) The conservatism of Pixar movies. (HT: Trevin Wax)

2)What hath Bach to do with Japan? Much, for the sake of the gospel. (HT: JT)

3) A note for critics (not of me per se, just critics in general):

It’s not the critic who counts, not the one who points out where the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with sweat and dust and blood, and who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spend himself in a worthy cause, who, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.

His place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat!

- Theodore Roosevelt

4) Another peril of social networking

5) 2010: Should we be optimistic?

6) For all you feminists ("biblical" or otherwise) out there

7) A new study shows that children who were spanked are more likely to grow up happy and successful. Perhaps parental instinct and biblical command aren’t so bad after all.

According to the research, children spanked up to the age of 6 were likely as teenagers to perform better at school and were more likely to carry out volunteer work and to want to go to college than their peers who had never been physically disciplined.