Thursday, May 16, 2024
A history lesson …
… for latterday ignoramuses: (18) Two Unlikely National Liberation Collaborators: Ho Chi Minh and David Ben-Gurion.
The lure of the skies …
… Gazing at the eclipse in Walt Whitman's perfect silence. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Something to think on …
More and more we are into communications; and less and less into communication.
— Studs Terkel, born on this date in 1912
Wednesday, May 15, 2024
They should sue …
… Atheist complaint forces Florida elementary school to shut down Christian club | Fox News.
They will win. Here’s what the first amendment says:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Something to think on …
I write of love and death. What other subjects are there?
— Arthur Schnitzler,, born on this date on in 1862
Sounds interesting …
… Buried But Not Quite Dead: Forgotten Writers of Père Lachaise. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
This ia very worrisome …
… The Backdoor to Control the Internet | Mind Matters.
Thankfully, this was discovered before it had major impacts. Nobody knows who Jia Tan is, and we are probably never going to find out. But this does put software developers on alert to the fact that bad actors, whether individuals or part of a state organization, are willing to play the long game to get malicious software installed on everything.
Something to think on …
The most dangerous tendency of the modern world is the way in which bogus theories are given the force of dogma.
— Jean Daniélou, born on this date in 1905
Monday, May 13, 2024
A Poem …
Hindsight
Being old proves a mystery.
So much time spent watching
Reruns, listening to the music helped
Shape his being, reminded of paintings
He had sat before over and over.
Writers at dinner …
… How Evelyn Waugh’s ‘cantankerous’ Catholicism clashed with America’s literary scene at a dinner party in Florence. (Hat tip, Dave. Lull.)
One example of his appalling rudeness will be more than sufficient. A friendly American told him how much she had enjoyed his novel Brideshead Revisited, whereupon he rolled his eyes and replied: “I thought it was good myself, but now I know that a vulgar, common American woman like you admires it, I’m not so sure.”
Beyond words …
… Saying the Unsayable, and Listening to Silence: Jon Fosse on How Writing Plays Transformed His Craft. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
… when I wrote plays, I could use silent speech—I could use silence—in a completely different way. All I had to do was write ‘pause’ and the silent speech was right there. This word ‘pause’ is without a doubt the most important word in my plays, and the one I use the most often: “long pause,” “short pause,” or just “pause.”
Sounds like a must-read …
… Jeremy Clarke, Low Life review: laughing in the face of death. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Something to think on …
Writing every book is like a purge; at the end of it one is empty ... like a dry shell on the beach, waiting for the tide to come in again
— Daphne du Maurier, born on this date in 1997
Sunday, May 12, 2024
In case you wondered …
… From Austen to Larkin: Why Writers Could Be More Prone to Hypochondria. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden,)
Lovely …
… Wildpeace by Yehuda Amichai | Poetry Foundation. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
Amichai would have turned 100 on May 3.
A fresh look at S.J. Perelman …
… A Review of Crazy Like a Fox and Cloudland Revisited - Believer Magazine. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Words beget words, syllepsis begets syllepsis: the Julian calendar turns into an old acquaintance named Julian Callender, the evening’s violet hush turns into a seductive companion named (what else?) Violet Hush, and walking past rows of female film extras turns into a stroll down Mammary Lane.
A poem …
… Our Daughter Beside the Sea: Blue Hill, Maine by Ben Myers | Articles | First Things. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Something to think on …
The worst moment for the atheist is when he is really thankful and has nobody to thank.
— Dante Gabriel Rossetti, born on this date in 1828
Saturday, May 11, 2024
In case you wondered …
…How Netflix's A Man in Full changed the book's ending. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I met Tom Wolfe once — at the White House of all places. He seemed very nice.
Blogging note …
I have some errands to run this morning. So I won’t be blogging until this afternoon.
Something to think on …
Intuition is the whisper of the soul.
— Jiddu Krishnamurti, born on this date in 1895
Friday, May 10, 2024
Something to think on …
To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.
— Karl Barth, born on this date in 1886
Thursday, May 09, 2024
Watch the conversation with Google …
… it’s pretty appalling — (1) The Persian Jewess (@persianjewess) / X
Something to think on …
With morality we correct the mistakes of our instincts, and with love we correct the mistakes of our morals.
— José Ortega y Gasset, born on this date in 1883
Wednesday, May 08, 2024
I don’t know why …
… First Circuit unsure if Boston can keep the devil at bay | Courthouse News Service.
It seems to me the First Amendment covers people who worship Satan. I was at a Satanist gathering many years ago. I had to keep myself from laughing, and failed at least once. But it’s their choice.
Blogging note …
I have had much to do around the house today. Blogging will resume when I have time. Maybe later tonight.
Maybe sometime tomorrow.
Something to think on …
It's impossible to lose your footing when you're on your knees.
— Fulton Sheen, born on this date in 1895
The adventure of collective nouns …
… Playing the Venereal Game | George Weigel | First Things. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
The book’s title, an “exaltation of larks,” may be as good as the venereal game gets. But let’s not leave the animal kingdom without noting the appositeness of a “pod of seals,” a “murder of crows,” a “rafter of turkeys,” a “skulk of foxes,” a “colony of penguins,” a “parliament of owls,” an “ostentation of peacocks,” and a “bouquet of pheasants.”
Tuesday, May 07, 2024
Something to think on …
Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for?
— Robert Browning, born on this date in 1812
Encouraging news …
… Here’s the Latest Proof of the ‘Exciting Rebirth’ of Catholic Poetry in the US. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Wilson labors to make poetry more accessible to the reading public. He eschews deliberately obscure or ambiguous verse in favor of clarity of message. At the same time, Wilson is a strong supporter of rhyme and meter, the pleasing arrangement of wording in rhythmic verse
Monday, May 06, 2024
Mind your own business …
…. Jagger and Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry trade barbs | Blaze Media.
Hey Mick, you’re not an American citizen. So who gives a damn what you think?
Something to think on …
The flood of money that gushes into politics today is a pollution of democracy.
— Theodore White, born on this date in 1915
Sunday, May 05, 2024
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