Thought I'd post it here in case I ever want to watch it again.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
White Guilt
Even liberals make fun of white guilt. I think they need to be careful because if white guilt loses its power, Obama might not have a chance to become president.
Jamal
A warning. I’m going to write about my old cat. Not everyone wants to hear this kind of thing. You’ve been warned
I recently read a thing on the internet about a woman with chronic pain that got little relief from medications but her cat’s purring gives her some relief and contentment. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/HeartDiseaseCenter/story?id=4325718&page=1 I was reminded of Jamal, the last cat I owned. He did not cuddle or sit on my lap. Most of the time I owned him I worked the night shift on a locked psych unit. We worked twelve hour shifts. Once in a while I would come home in the morning feeling unusually worn out and overly abused. I would get into bed and call Jamal. He would usually be in the kitchen looking out the window. But if I called him from the bed he would slowly make his way to the bed and lay in it for a while. He would lay about a foot from me as if he was afraid I’d roll over on him or we’d get too close. But I came to notice that on those days when I was feeling really down he would reach out one paw and touch my hand. It was his way of being healing. And it helped that this self-reliant cat with such good boundaries was there for me. He’s been gone since 2002 but I still miss him and I use pictures of him on my desktop sometimes.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Just Another Empty Headed, Self-involved Member of the Hollywood Ignorati
I'm at least as conserative as she is liberal but none the less I love Tina Fey. I hope Ms. Fey doesn't mind if I post a little bit of her work for the few people who read this blog. (I don't even know if anyone ever comes to this site since I've only gotten one comment posted since I began the blog.)
Monday, February 18, 2008
The Modern Library
When I was young I read a lot, all kinds of books. I read those horrible books written for specific age groups and then slowly went beyond to the classics. Sometimes I look back and wonder what it was that so drew me. I know part of it was deep insecurity. I had no sense of purpose or goal . And I felt that if I read and studied the books that centuries of consensus called the best I would become better by learning what mankind valued most highly. And that is how it works. Matthew Arnold called education an introduction, “to the best that has been thought or said.” If done properly it includes developing critical thinking. And also developing a sense for recognizing and appreciating beauty which is a specialized form of critical thinking.
One of the things that made the classics attractive was Random House’s Modern Library. They are simple but delectable little books. When I was in school they mainly published the best writers from Homer and Confucius to Joyce and Proust. In those days I spent dozens of hours a week in libraries and these beautiful little jewels of books were sprinkled throughout the stacks. Initially I didn’t read any of these books. But I took them down off the shelf and just enjoyed looking at them. They were smaller and had more pleasant proportions than most books. They all had essentially the same binding. It was clean, symmetrical and appealing and each had a little surprise: the title and author’s name in the small dark box. When younger I was always mildly startled by the art deco naked runner with the torch. I grew up with Pinkie and Blue Boy and landscapes on the walls. I didn’t know from art deco. In spite of their modest size they were not inconsequential. Printed on heavy paper they had real heft. And I loved to open them to the back and look over the list of all of the titles offered . Here I slowly made familiar objects of all the names. Turgenev, Pepys, Plutarch, Goethe, Gogol and many others slowly began seeping into my consciousness.
Then I slowly began reading them. One I tried earliest was Gulliver’s Travels. It moves slowly compared to what I was accustomed to. There would be pages and pages of minute descriptions. I couldn’t hack it. I don’t think I made it to page forty. Then I started checking out some of the Caedmon recordings of plays. Some Shakespeare, some O’Neil and lots of Tennessee Williams. I didn’t enjoy any of this but I forced myself because I was sure it was good for me. In those days the average American education didn’t prepare a ninth grader for Shakespeare.
I kept at it. I was a senior when I read Plato’s Republic. And even though most of it went over my head it was the first of the bunch I recall enjoying. (I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a Modern Library edition; it was probably the Viking Portable edition.) From there I went to reading histories of philosophy and many individual thinkers. I ended up with some fondness for Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Spinoza, Hume, Kant and Wittgenstein. When I entered college I intended to get a string of degrees in philosophy. But I soon realized that my mind does not have the acute gift for logic that serious philosophy requires.
As I was growing away from philosophy I developed deeper enjoyment of literature. Many of the greats were to be found in the Modern Library. And I had begun to haunt bookstores. Used bookstores were full of Modern Library editions in those days (the seventies and eighties). And I discovered some other great and attractive books. The Loeb Classical Library filled some of the spaces left by the Modern Library, e. g., Strabo. But the Loebs are higher priced. Penguin books are great. The Oxford Classics are ok but don’t have the grace and charm of the Modern Library. The Viking Portables are pleasant and reasonably priced. I highly recommend the multivolume collection of English verse if only for the marvelous and enlightening introductions to each by W. H. Auden.
The other day I looked up the Modern Library on the net. http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/ And they still have a hell of a fine line up of books. Though they seem comparatively more expensive and I didn’t see any frequent flyer type of program. And, no, they didn’t pay me to write this.
One of the things that made the classics attractive was Random House’s Modern Library. They are simple but delectable little books. When I was in school they mainly published the best writers from Homer and Confucius to Joyce and Proust. In those days I spent dozens of hours a week in libraries and these beautiful little jewels of books were sprinkled throughout the stacks. Initially I didn’t read any of these books. But I took them down off the shelf and just enjoyed looking at them. They were smaller and had more pleasant proportions than most books. They all had essentially the same binding. It was clean, symmetrical and appealing and each had a little surprise: the title and author’s name in the small dark box. When younger I was always mildly startled by the art deco naked runner with the torch. I grew up with Pinkie and Blue Boy and landscapes on the walls. I didn’t know from art deco. In spite of their modest size they were not inconsequential. Printed on heavy paper they had real heft. And I loved to open them to the back and look over the list of all of the titles offered . Here I slowly made familiar objects of all the names. Turgenev, Pepys, Plutarch, Goethe, Gogol and many others slowly began seeping into my consciousness.
Then I slowly began reading them. One I tried earliest was Gulliver’s Travels. It moves slowly compared to what I was accustomed to. There would be pages and pages of minute descriptions. I couldn’t hack it. I don’t think I made it to page forty. Then I started checking out some of the Caedmon recordings of plays. Some Shakespeare, some O’Neil and lots of Tennessee Williams. I didn’t enjoy any of this but I forced myself because I was sure it was good for me. In those days the average American education didn’t prepare a ninth grader for Shakespeare.
I kept at it. I was a senior when I read Plato’s Republic. And even though most of it went over my head it was the first of the bunch I recall enjoying. (I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a Modern Library edition; it was probably the Viking Portable edition.) From there I went to reading histories of philosophy and many individual thinkers. I ended up with some fondness for Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Spinoza, Hume, Kant and Wittgenstein. When I entered college I intended to get a string of degrees in philosophy. But I soon realized that my mind does not have the acute gift for logic that serious philosophy requires.
As I was growing away from philosophy I developed deeper enjoyment of literature. Many of the greats were to be found in the Modern Library. And I had begun to haunt bookstores. Used bookstores were full of Modern Library editions in those days (the seventies and eighties). And I discovered some other great and attractive books. The Loeb Classical Library filled some of the spaces left by the Modern Library, e. g., Strabo. But the Loebs are higher priced. Penguin books are great. The Oxford Classics are ok but don’t have the grace and charm of the Modern Library. The Viking Portables are pleasant and reasonably priced. I highly recommend the multivolume collection of English verse if only for the marvelous and enlightening introductions to each by W. H. Auden.
The other day I looked up the Modern Library on the net. http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/ And they still have a hell of a fine line up of books. Though they seem comparatively more expensive and I didn’t see any frequent flyer type of program. And, no, they didn’t pay me to write this.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
How I Spend My Mornings
It has now been nearly two years since I last worked. I had worked a Saturday night shift and was scheduled to work the Sunday night shift. But, when I woke up in the afternoon, I couldn’t walk. I was on crutches for a couple of months because I had lost most of the sensation and muscle control in my legs. Then I slowly lost muscle control in my hands. It was made more frightening because I didn’t know what was causing my problem. My doctor didn’t have a clue and he sent me to a neurologist. The first two times the neurologist saw me he didn’t know the cause of the problem. But he did some test and finally did an MRI and we found out what was going on. A small part of the problem was peripheral neuropathy caused by my diabetes. But the major problem was a vertebra that was pressing on my spinal cord and also pressing on some of the nerves exiting the spinal cord in the area.
So I started physical therapy and in a few weeks I was walking with only a cane though I was more unbalanced on my feet than I have ever been. During this time I fell frequently. And I had to undergo occupational therapy because of the loss of function in my hands. The OT helped but it is only recently that the strength and coordination in my hands has increased enough for me to open a two litre soda bottle using only my hands alone without my vise grips. I still walk unsteadily but seldom fall down anymore.
And I really like not working. I enjoy spending time on the internet. I enjoy reading more. Unfortunately I am watching more television than I ever have. Rarely PBS will have a good show (some might find this hard to believe but I have even seen PBS go an hour without comparing Bush to Hitler - - - ever notice that funny little smile of Bill Moyers’ when someone goes on a mindless rant about Bush and Cheney - - it’s kind of like the look you see on well behaved men at a strip club.) There is probably more worth watching on the History Channel and A & E. But I waste too much time on Monk and House and Deadwood and Rome and such.
I recently read that retired people tend to fall into a strict routine and I have seen this in myself over these two years. I like to get up around four or five am, pray and then make some coffee (about two litres of sweetened café au lait). Then I read a Psalm and then meditate for about fifteen minutes. Then straight to the computer. First, I go over the front page of the BBC website. Then look over every headline on Drudge. Then I go to Hot Air.com I return to Hot Air ten to fifteen times throughout the day. And recently I check out Ezra Levant’s site daily (http://ezralevant.com/). All of this often takes till nine or ten am. Then I take a nap. Followed by reading and watching shows I’ve tivo’d.
So I started physical therapy and in a few weeks I was walking with only a cane though I was more unbalanced on my feet than I have ever been. During this time I fell frequently. And I had to undergo occupational therapy because of the loss of function in my hands. The OT helped but it is only recently that the strength and coordination in my hands has increased enough for me to open a two litre soda bottle using only my hands alone without my vise grips. I still walk unsteadily but seldom fall down anymore.
And I really like not working. I enjoy spending time on the internet. I enjoy reading more. Unfortunately I am watching more television than I ever have. Rarely PBS will have a good show (some might find this hard to believe but I have even seen PBS go an hour without comparing Bush to Hitler - - - ever notice that funny little smile of Bill Moyers’ when someone goes on a mindless rant about Bush and Cheney - - it’s kind of like the look you see on well behaved men at a strip club.) There is probably more worth watching on the History Channel and A & E. But I waste too much time on Monk and House and Deadwood and Rome and such.
I recently read that retired people tend to fall into a strict routine and I have seen this in myself over these two years. I like to get up around four or five am, pray and then make some coffee (about two litres of sweetened café au lait). Then I read a Psalm and then meditate for about fifteen minutes. Then straight to the computer. First, I go over the front page of the BBC website. Then look over every headline on Drudge. Then I go to Hot Air.com I return to Hot Air ten to fifteen times throughout the day. And recently I check out Ezra Levant’s site daily (http://ezralevant.com/). All of this often takes till nine or ten am. Then I take a nap. Followed by reading and watching shows I’ve tivo’d.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
The Hellenistic Age
The Hellenistic Age is the name of a book by Peter Green I just finished reading. It’s a history and cultural overview. It quickly marches through the history from 334 to 31 B.C. in 130 pages with the cultural themes pulled in at appropriate points as the history moves briskly along. It opens with Alexander’s conquests, the wars among his successors and the emergence of his three strongest successors. These three, Ptolemy in Egypt, Seleucus in Syria and Turkey and Antigonus in Greece founded kingdoms that lasted until Rome triumphed. In 31 B.C. Egypt, the final remaining kingdom, was defeated by the man who was to become Augustus Caesar. But a good piece of the book is taken up with the wars among these three kingdoms as well as revolts, dynastic squabbles, divorces, incestuous marriages, and assassinations. And many of the rulers chronicled were gluttons, drunks or given to excessive sexuality.
Intellectual life was to a great degree taken up with the study and preservation of the great works of the glorious Greek past such as Homer, Hesiod, Sophocles, Euripides, Herodotus, Thucydides, the Pre-Socratic’s, Plato, and so on. Scholars minutely listed and classified these older works. There were good writers during this time but none that are essential to the great conversation of the Western tradition.
The dominating philosophical systems of this period were Stoicism, cynicism and Epicureanism. They have been characterized as useful in assisting one in accepting and fitting into a world in which the individual has reduced control over his own life and no control over political systems . Loss of power was their dilemma and their answer was to focus on self and seek the most happiness possible under the circumstances.
For the past couple of years I have been drawn to the Hellenistic age and the last century of Habsburg rule. I sense that this is because I feel some affinity between these times and our present world. I see an unmoored emptiness in the present day: so many things, so few values. Tens of millions of Americans have a knee jerk hatred of America. Scientology makes sense to millions. Keith Olberman and Geraldo Rivera can make decent livings just being themselves: what kind of weird world is that?
That’s this week’s book report
Something unrelated that some might find as interesting as I did. In my reading about the Habsburgs I came across something I hadn’t known about Ludwig Wittgenstein. I had always thought of L. W. as a part of the 20th century tradition of English philosophy. But I came across a writer who saw him as a Kantian. He was motivated not to make Moore or Russell or whoever happy but rather to solve some of the puzzles Kant had left floating around the Continent.
Intellectual life was to a great degree taken up with the study and preservation of the great works of the glorious Greek past such as Homer, Hesiod, Sophocles, Euripides, Herodotus, Thucydides, the Pre-Socratic’s, Plato, and so on. Scholars minutely listed and classified these older works. There were good writers during this time but none that are essential to the great conversation of the Western tradition.
The dominating philosophical systems of this period were Stoicism, cynicism and Epicureanism. They have been characterized as useful in assisting one in accepting and fitting into a world in which the individual has reduced control over his own life and no control over political systems . Loss of power was their dilemma and their answer was to focus on self and seek the most happiness possible under the circumstances.
For the past couple of years I have been drawn to the Hellenistic age and the last century of Habsburg rule. I sense that this is because I feel some affinity between these times and our present world. I see an unmoored emptiness in the present day: so many things, so few values. Tens of millions of Americans have a knee jerk hatred of America. Scientology makes sense to millions. Keith Olberman and Geraldo Rivera can make decent livings just being themselves: what kind of weird world is that?
That’s this week’s book report
Something unrelated that some might find as interesting as I did. In my reading about the Habsburgs I came across something I hadn’t known about Ludwig Wittgenstein. I had always thought of L. W. as a part of the 20th century tradition of English philosophy. But I came across a writer who saw him as a Kantian. He was motivated not to make Moore or Russell or whoever happy but rather to solve some of the puzzles Kant had left floating around the Continent.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Tom Wolfe Said He Heard a French Diplomat Say
"An intellectual is a person knowledgeable in one field who speaks out only in others."
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Thomas Mann
I recently added a photo of Thomas Mann to the site because I enjoy his novels. Reading him while I was in my late teens helped prepare me to read Tolstoy and Joyce and many others. Reading Mann prepared me to study the Western tradition. And this was fortunate for me since schools in America have lost contact with the Western tradition and it is nearly impossible to receive a liberal education in present day America. I think the loss of liberal education from our colleges pretty much dooms America since it is what made us what we are, "but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?"
It was rather by accident that I began reading Mann. When I was seventeen I ran across Clifton Fadiman's Lifetime Reading Plan in the local library. And his description of Mann's writing made me curious. He said that Mann's novels were stylistically like music. This motivated me to read Mann to see just what he meant. We had had a copy of The Magic Mountain on the bookshelf at home. It had been there my whole life and I'm sure it was a Book of the Month Club selection my father received when I was a small child. So I pulled it down and read it.
The Magic Mountain is long and slow moving which I enjoy in a novel. It is the story of someone as clueless about the Western tradition as I was. Hans Castorp, the main character, accidentally ends up in a TB sanatorium in Switzerland and is exposed to liberal education by some of his fellow patients. It was the perfect book for an educational orphan like me. It gave me some examples of what a real education is like and made me hungry for more.
I ended up reading all of Mann's major novels and began studying the Western tradition. I began studying the ancient Greeks and Romans and continued on from there. I also studied some Eastern thought. I read some of the classics of Taoism, Buddhism and Hinduism and some books explaining them. I prefer the Western tradition but feel that knowledge of the east is essential to a rounded education.
Early on I didn't understand or appreciate the musical nature of Mann's style. But as I read more of his novels and became a better, more careful reader I came to see it and enjoy it. Mann treated his characters like musical themes and performed variations on the theme throughout the work. Certain words, actions and ideas would be regularly associated with a certain character. Then a character and his influence on or association with another character might be hinted at by then showing an association between these words, actions and ideas and the second character without any outright mention of the first character. This added a deeper level of meaning to both characters. Also, as the work progressed, the growth and development or lack thereof of any character could be reflected in the development of the themes associated with that character (the words, actions, ideas, etc.).
It was rather by accident that I began reading Mann. When I was seventeen I ran across Clifton Fadiman's Lifetime Reading Plan in the local library. And his description of Mann's writing made me curious. He said that Mann's novels were stylistically like music. This motivated me to read Mann to see just what he meant. We had had a copy of The Magic Mountain on the bookshelf at home. It had been there my whole life and I'm sure it was a Book of the Month Club selection my father received when I was a small child. So I pulled it down and read it.
The Magic Mountain is long and slow moving which I enjoy in a novel. It is the story of someone as clueless about the Western tradition as I was. Hans Castorp, the main character, accidentally ends up in a TB sanatorium in Switzerland and is exposed to liberal education by some of his fellow patients. It was the perfect book for an educational orphan like me. It gave me some examples of what a real education is like and made me hungry for more.
I ended up reading all of Mann's major novels and began studying the Western tradition. I began studying the ancient Greeks and Romans and continued on from there. I also studied some Eastern thought. I read some of the classics of Taoism, Buddhism and Hinduism and some books explaining them. I prefer the Western tradition but feel that knowledge of the east is essential to a rounded education.
Early on I didn't understand or appreciate the musical nature of Mann's style. But as I read more of his novels and became a better, more careful reader I came to see it and enjoy it. Mann treated his characters like musical themes and performed variations on the theme throughout the work. Certain words, actions and ideas would be regularly associated with a certain character. Then a character and his influence on or association with another character might be hinted at by then showing an association between these words, actions and ideas and the second character without any outright mention of the first character. This added a deeper level of meaning to both characters. Also, as the work progressed, the growth and development or lack thereof of any character could be reflected in the development of the themes associated with that character (the words, actions, ideas, etc.).
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Judy Woodruff
Following the Iowa caucus I watched some coverage on PBS. It was a hoot. Judy Woodruff came on and looked like she had just experienced multiple, thunderous orgasms and breathlessly told us about Barrack Obama. Her words, "This is exhilarating for democracy," pant, pant. And at home I'm thinking, "My tax dollars at work." Judy W. is chasing unicorns and America is getting up early in the morning to go to work to pay for her strange little quest.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
War Memorial Desecration
I read recently read about a Viet Nam veteran war memorial being desecrated with graffiti. The writing appeared to be signed by the MS 13 gang. My first reaction was that it does not make sense for them to be so openly involved in politics. I thought such involvement might just make it more difficult for them to operate their business and so they might tend to be adverse to such publicity. I can only guess at what is going on here. I did a small amount of research. I've lived in southern California since 1966 and have seen a lot of graffiti. I presently live in an enclave that just does not have graffiti so I haven't seen as much in the last few years. But my first reaction to seeing the writing on the memorial was that it was unlike much of what I have seen. Most of what I have seen is much more stylized and difficult to read. But I am sure there are police officers with the LAPD and near New Haven that have some expertise in identifying and authenticating graffiti.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that my thought that businessmen would not enter into politics might not apply here. They might not think there is much of a down side to an appeal to racial war. These gangs have grown up and thrived in areas controled by Democrats. And the Democrat party is obsessed with race and exacerbates racial divisions in order to increase their power. MS 13 might have felt that the establishment that they have grown up with and thrived under would be happy to see racially inspired chaos encouraged. Also they have been endemic in sancturary cities. So the establishment they have known has no respect for law and discourages respect for law in others. These gang members might only be doing what they have been taught by example.
Though, it still remains a possibility that this act was carried out by someone other than MS 13.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that my thought that businessmen would not enter into politics might not apply here. They might not think there is much of a down side to an appeal to racial war. These gangs have grown up and thrived in areas controled by Democrats. And the Democrat party is obsessed with race and exacerbates racial divisions in order to increase their power. MS 13 might have felt that the establishment that they have grown up with and thrived under would be happy to see racially inspired chaos encouraged. Also they have been endemic in sancturary cities. So the establishment they have known has no respect for law and discourages respect for law in others. These gang members might only be doing what they have been taught by example.
Though, it still remains a possibility that this act was carried out by someone other than MS 13.
Monday, December 31, 2007
First Principles - - I
Sometimes I feel like I'm just whining about every little mistake made by lefties. And, even though one could blog forever about just that, I yearn to write more positively from time to time. So, I've decided to make some posts about what I believe: first principles.
GOD
I believe there is a God who created heaven and earth. I am a Christian who believes that the foundation of Christianity the belief that there is ,"no remission of sin without the shedding of blood," and that the suffering and death of Jesus is how the sins of humanity are wiped out. I believe that kindness and tolerance are expected of me. And I don't think kindness and tolerance excludes speaking the truth to the misguided. Though this speaking of truth is not to be a full time occupation. Hopefully wisdom and grace will show us when and where to speak.
I believe in God and feel that it is a sensible approach to life. I feel that world views that lack the divine tend toward the solipsistic.
GOD
I believe there is a God who created heaven and earth. I am a Christian who believes that the foundation of Christianity the belief that there is ,"no remission of sin without the shedding of blood," and that the suffering and death of Jesus is how the sins of humanity are wiped out. I believe that kindness and tolerance are expected of me. And I don't think kindness and tolerance excludes speaking the truth to the misguided. Though this speaking of truth is not to be a full time occupation. Hopefully wisdom and grace will show us when and where to speak.
I believe in God and feel that it is a sensible approach to life. I feel that world views that lack the divine tend toward the solipsistic.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Robert Heinlein Said:
Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterward.
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