Category: The Atlasphere

All things Atlasphere can be found here, columns, podcasts, interesting anecdotes, and more.

Cordair Gallery Celebrates 8th Anniversary

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

Quent Cordair Fine Art is celebrating its 8th anniversary this month. From an eMediaWire press release:

Quent Cordair Fine Art in Burlingame, California celebrates their 8 year anniversary by offering the finest in Contemporary Romantic Realism. This unique gallery is located minutes south of San Francisco.
Burlingame, CA (PRWEB) August 27, 2004 — Quent Cordair Fine Art was established by artist Quent Cordair in 1996. As a premier provider of contemporary Romantic Realism in painting, sculpture and drawing, QCFA has grown to serve an international clientele of private and corporate collectors.
Romantic Realism, the movement which renews the high esthetic standards and techniques of pre-20th century ateliers, brings a rebirth of comprehensibility, beauty, romanticism and stylization to contemporary subject matter. The gallery’s collection emphasizes themes which celebrate the moments of happiness, joy and success possible to Man on earth. Subject matter includes figurative, narrative, allegorical, still lifes, seascapes and landscapes.
The gallery features the art of Danielle Anjou, Sam Axton, Bryan Larsen, Damon Denys, Bill Mack, Karl Jesen, Han Wu Shen, Sandra Shaw, Bobbie Carlyle and many others.
Recently all ten titles of the Ayn Rand cover art painted by Nick Gaetano were released as limited-edition fine art prints on canvas.

More on Joss Whedon and Ayn Rand

Posted on by Heather Wagenhals

Last week I noted that fans of Joss Whedon’s Firefly had discovered, and were enjoying, Monica White’s review for the Atlasphere.
A new thread has begun on a discussion board devoted specifically to Firefly. This group seems more sympathetic to Monica’s analogy between Joss Whedon (and his hero, Mal Reynolds) and Ayn Rand’s heroes.
Here are a few choice quotes from various participants:

“I looooooove Ayn Rands work, maybe that is why I love Firefly. I never really noticed parallels between her books and the whole creation of FF, but now that I think about it, there really are so many.”
“Me too. I hadn’t noticed it either, until someone else pointed it out. Monica, the author, described it well. Her article should sell some more DVDs and movie tickets, too. :)”
“I’m so SICK of seeing television shows that have promise get RUINED because they end up being run by committee and the one guy with the real vision gets pushed out. Shows like Firefly (and I’ll say B5 too because JMS ran his ship tightly too) maintain consistent levels of excellence *because* there’s a real bossperson with whom the buck truly stops.”
“I couldn’t agree more. There are many, many examples of shows that have been destroyed that way. I suspect the purpose of committees is to cover for and carry those who lack the talent of a Joss or JMS. It doesn’t work.”
“There’s a line in Atlas Shrugged, said mainly by John Galt… ‘I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.’ Sounds a bit Mal-ish, don’t it? Only it predates Firefly by about 45 years. That’s kind of Rand’s overriding philosophy, and I think it complements nicely. That’s why I love Firefly… loved Atlas Shrugged first, and Mal is Rand’s kind of hero, IMHO.”
“The setting may be a bit dated today, but AS is still a terrific book. I agree, Mal is a Randian kind of hero.”
“Yes, *very* Mal-like! I think Mal would have a copy of “Atlas Shrugged” at his bedside.”
“You know, it just goes to show what an intelligent, well-written show Firefly was/is. You don’t see people making favorable literary references to things like ‘Joe Millionaire’ or ‘Fear Factor’. Now…how to get Fox et al to give the public credit for having some brains!”

See the full discussion if it interests you.

Recent Sales Figures for Ayn Rand's Novels

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

Ayn Rand’s novels continue to sell well, in both hardcover and paperback editions, many years after their original publication. This is well-known. But have you ever wondered what the actual figures are?
BookMagazine.com published a table summarizing the sales figures of the top 50 classic bestsellers (books that continue to sell well more than 5 years after their publication) for the year 2002.
Ayn Rand is one of the few authors with more than one book on this list. Here are the sales figures for her two most popular novels, from January through December of 2002:

Atlas Shrugged – 130,000 copies (#19 on the list)
The Fountainhead – 81,000 copies (#35 on the list)

These figures include chain booksellers and online outlets, representing approximately 70% of the bookselling market in the United States, but do not include campus or high school bookstores (which could add a substantial number of sales).
See the full list for additional details and the titles of the other top 50 classic bestsellers.

Joss Whedon and Ayn Rand

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

The Joss Whedon fans have discovered Monica White’s wonderful review of Firefly, at the Atlasphere.
Judging from the comments, some of Whedon’s fans have missed the boat regarding the value of Ayn Rand’s novels.
But not all of them, apparently: Our new member signups spiked noticeably this morning (by about fifteen more signups than normal, so far), which suggests at least some of Joss Whedon’s fans are also fans of Ayn Rand’s novels.

CRF: Dodgers GM Paul DePodesta

Posted on by Heather Wagenhals

According to an article that originally ran in the Press Telegram (now reprinted here), Los Angeles Dodgers General Manager Paul DePodesta is a serious fan of Ayn Rand’s writings:

During an hour-long interview, Paul DePodesta mentions convictions often, and reveals the famous novelist, Ayn Rand, and the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, as individuals who have had influences on his life.
“I have DVDs on Ayn Rand and have read most of her books,” he says of the author whose most acclaimed book, “The Fountainhead,” stressed the virtue of American individualism. “Howard Roark (the main character in ‘The Fountainhead’) was a guy loyal to his own ideals and principles and he eventually triumphs over every form of spiritual collectivism. He had big…” [Quote cut in the original, for some reason. –JZ]
DePodesta also has a printout on his desk of a quote from Theodore Roosevelt in regard to criticism.
He admits it serves as a source of inspiration for him, and he reads it to me verbatim:
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

See the full article for additional information about the celebrity Ayn Rand fan.

Professional Objectivists on Election 2004

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

Still haven’t decided who to vote for this year? Some prominent Objectivists are offering to help clear the fog.
In his lecture earlier this year on the DIM Hypothesis, Leonard Peikoff came out in favor of voting for John Kerry, because of George W. Bush’s religious fanaticism. In fact, Peikoff arguest that it is immoral to abstain from voting against Bush.
Objectivist psychotherapist Michael Hurd, on the other hand, has a different take. According to his article “Looking Ahead While Living Today,” Bush is the lesser of two evils:

If the choice is between John Kerry, who almost certainly will never use military force to vigorously defend American interests versus George W. Bush, who will sometimes do so, then this is more important to me than whether or not the candidate approves of prayer or will appoint judges who are against abortion.

See the respective arguments from Drs. Peikoff and Hurd for their full rationale.

New Issue of 'Navigator'

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

The latest issue of The Objectivist Center’s monthly journal Navigator is out.
In ‘The Problem of Animal Rights,’ I discuss and critcize the arguments that philosophers have made in favor animal rights.

I think that the proper basis for individual rights?which I take to be Ayn Rand’s theory of rights?excludes extending rights or legal protections to animals…. This article will simply describe that theory and then employ it to rebut arguments that claim an extension of rights to animals is morally required.

Also in this issue, Robert Campbell reviews Owen Flanagan’s The Problem of the Soul in ‘What Does Science Say about the Mind?‘ And in ‘John Rennie: Enlightenment Engineer,’ Roger Donway profiles the man who rebuilt London Bridge.
See the full issue of Navigator for these and other articles.

Bernstein on the Olympic Games

Posted on by Heather Wagenhals

Ayn Rand Institute writer Andrew Bernstein has published an op-ed on the Olympic games, titled “Representing the Best.” The article begins:

The Olympic Games could only have been born (and reborn) in a culture that venerates individual human achievement and worldly success.
The return of the Olympic Games to the country of their birth is an appropriate reminder of their deeper meaning. The Ancient Greeks founded the games because they valued the spectacle of a great athlete striving for victory.

See the full article in the Washington Times.

Wanted: Objectivist Families

Posted on by s1e2t3u4p5

ABC recruiter Susie Banikarim (who tells me she has, herself, read all of Ayn Rand’s novels) extends the following invitation to members of the Atlasphere:

ARE YOU AN OBJECTIVIST?
Is Your Family Ready for Prime Time?

ABC is currently working on a groundbreaking new series that celebrates the American family, based on a major award-winning British format.
The programs are portraits of American life and I am looking for a family that lives its life by the philosophy of Ayn Rand to participate.
If you are a two-parent family with young or teenage children, at least two of whom are over the age of eight, you can be on our show.
If you have ever wondered what it would be like to be part of a different family or if you have ever wanted an opporunity to share how your family does things with the world, this is the opportunity for you.
If you’re interested, please call me (Susie Banikarim, 212-404-1429) as soon as possible. We’re looking for families all the time.

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