contest: who can write the best caption?
"Hello world! I'm marrying Sam Brennan!"
January 31, 2010
Hottest Literary Giant is in our Midst
contest: who can write the best caption?
"Hello world! I'm marrying Sam Brennan!"
RIP Ralph McInerny
Ralph McInerny (1929-2010)
Rest In Peace
First Things Obit.
Definitely worth the read.
January 27, 2010
I Know this is a Purely Academic Forum but...
Is anyone in town for Groundhog? There is an Alumni contingency forming.
Related in some way to Peter Kane's "Wide-Eyed Obedience"
In some ways, I have to admit, I can relate to Peter Kane. (I hope you are prepared for totally deep stuff.)
As some of you may know, I am the assistant coach of the girls Tyburn basketball team, which means I get the girls water and tell them they are great because the real coach yells at them the whole time.
At a recent away game (at a public school), we walked by a teacher’s door that had a sign stating:
Without a doubt, culture has lost all sense of true virtue. Prudence, the ability to make good judgments (and thus act accordingly), is perverted, here, into a state of non-thinking, therefore, non-action--the p.c. word being "abstinence".
There’s an article by Chesterton where he says (something about how) Chastity isn’t the mere abstaining of an act; it’s something flaming like Joan of Arc. Virtue, to the modern mind, is abstinence: just [DON’T] do it. Of course, we know it in its traditional definition, “the ACT of DOING good.” In accordance with ol’ Gilbert, I’ll have to make my own claim that prudence isn't the mere absence of thought; it’s something grilling like St. Lawrence.
That said, we lost the game 70-10....long night.
January 26, 2010
Hottest Literary Giant
I'm gonna throw it out there: Virginia Woolf was hot. I'm not talking just good looking, she was smokin'. (one need only notice how I pulled off the "g" and supplemented it with an apostrophe to see how serious I am).
Wasn't she suicidal you may say? Yeah, maybe, but aren't the good looking ones always crazy?
In this 2010 year, I nominate Virginia Woolf for hottest literary giant to date. Feel free to comment.
January 24, 2010
Poem Typography
Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.
Hi friends, I saw this on First Things and it made me think of many of you and thought I would share.
January 21, 2010
Old Crow Medicine Show
I passed by a record store advertising "Old Crow Medicine Show" and, feeling a bit indie at the moment, popped in. The early album from O.C.M.S. entitled "Greetings from Wawa" (2000) has been reissued after seven years of lying dormant. This is the album that you always heard about but never heard. I think it's limited edition, so get it if you feel like it.This album does not contain "Wagon Wheel." It does, however, contain several tracks of people shouting "Play 'Wagon Wheel.'" I think I can hear Willie tell Ketch, "I hate that song," but it's an old album, so the sound is fuzzy.
January 18, 2010
Clarification?
Just throwing this out there: I'm still at least 57% convinced that the film was the tragedy of a heroic colonel fighting a mutant blood traitor.
Characterized by Wide-Eyed Obedience
Recently, my innocent toyota camry was towed mercilessly by Automotive Enforcement agents hired by Tower Village Apartments. I was parked next to the dumpster near the bar--a stone's throw from a designated visitor's spot and moreover in an already sparsely occupied Old Mill parking lot considering the holiday. As Joe and I drove out to FT. WORTH to claim my car, I could not help but blame America for my misfortune.
We love rules. We accept them, we trust them, we never question them, we breathe them in, we cuddle with them, we bring them home to meet our parents then put shiny rings on them. I marvelled at the fact that a private company--not police backed--could be hired to pick up my car (in the middle of the night...my bones!), drag it across to Ft. Worth, barricade it within wrought iron fencing, and charge me to retrieve it. I could complain about my personal experience far more, but I am attempting to make a broader cultural claim than my petty run-ins with Old Mill Administration. Our willingness to bend over for government rules--e.g. stopping at red lights in the middle of the night at an empty intersection--even leads us to accept privately enforced regulations. Our sincerity and obedience as Americans is truly stunning. At times, this attitude provides the necessary infrastructure through which we "kick-ass" in regards to economy and overall safety. However, it leaves commonsense vulnerable, the practical wisdom which would, say, run that red light in a shady neighborhood in which personal safety is a concern, or even allow one's son to drink a beer at a family celebration though he is underage. The loss of practical wisdom breeds what I tell people is American "All or Nothing." Cigarettes are either good or evil, there is no compromise. Art is either good or bad (wink to Avatar debaters). Education is either practical or impractical. There will be no rest until we figure out the rule.
On a further note, and I attribute this thought to Jessica Williamson... In a way, what has been said testifies to the fact that of the three transcendents (the good, the true, the beautiful), American mores are mostly ordered from pursuit of the good. The perfect example of a culture more inclined and ordered to the beautiful would be Italy. Cross a Roman street and see how much they care about the rules. Try to talk about the natural causes of a sunset and watch them put out a cigarette on your forearm.
We love rules. We accept them, we trust them, we never question them, we breathe them in, we cuddle with them, we bring them home to meet our parents then put shiny rings on them. I marvelled at the fact that a private company--not police backed--could be hired to pick up my car (in the middle of the night...my bones!), drag it across to Ft. Worth, barricade it within wrought iron fencing, and charge me to retrieve it. I could complain about my personal experience far more, but I am attempting to make a broader cultural claim than my petty run-ins with Old Mill Administration. Our willingness to bend over for government rules--e.g. stopping at red lights in the middle of the night at an empty intersection--even leads us to accept privately enforced regulations. Our sincerity and obedience as Americans is truly stunning. At times, this attitude provides the necessary infrastructure through which we "kick-ass" in regards to economy and overall safety. However, it leaves commonsense vulnerable, the practical wisdom which would, say, run that red light in a shady neighborhood in which personal safety is a concern, or even allow one's son to drink a beer at a family celebration though he is underage. The loss of practical wisdom breeds what I tell people is American "All or Nothing." Cigarettes are either good or evil, there is no compromise. Art is either good or bad (wink to Avatar debaters). Education is either practical or impractical. There will be no rest until we figure out the rule.
On a further note, and I attribute this thought to Jessica Williamson... In a way, what has been said testifies to the fact that of the three transcendents (the good, the true, the beautiful), American mores are mostly ordered from pursuit of the good. The perfect example of a culture more inclined and ordered to the beautiful would be Italy. Cross a Roman street and see how much they care about the rules. Try to talk about the natural causes of a sunset and watch them put out a cigarette on your forearm.
January 17, 2010
Avatar, the Final Judgment
In an ancient time, Romans would pass through the Alps with blinds shut against what to them was the ugliness that loomed all around. The Alps are blue. The Navi are blue. Retreatism is wonderful.
January 16, 2010
Response
Two things here, fantasy needs to bring human nature fully to a new environment so that you can return to reality and more fully appreciate the wonders of human nature. Avatar is not alone in blurring this line between reality and fantasy (the humans in the story are extensions of our human reality as we know it, not humanity in general brought to a new imaginative dimension, as in Lord of the Rings). Harry Potter does it, Twilight does it; and the problem with all of these is that if not read or watched by a viewer with discretion, they can serve as a form of escapism, rather than an imaginative avenue to become more human. Also, do we become elves or do we stay ourselves and encounter elves? Because I don't think a rightly excersied imagination should be abandoning its human nature.
First, to all those who are complaining about pedantry: This blog was founded on it so stop whining.
In response to the above. I think you're somewhat right, but allow me to define and conquer. The artist's role is to lead viewers into his mindset. The question that should be addressed doesn't concern the quality of imagination, but rather the "reality" with which the artist's imagination is working with, or is falling victim to. The imagination is often coerced by reality. The imagination is eternal, if you will, yet differentiated through cultural mores and many other things, by reality. If you want to point the finger somewhere, point it at the state of culture or "reality." Reality is what forces art into certain corners.
So you see, escapism is the most honorable thing in the world. GOOOOD ART turns us away from the pressure of reality, which is always flawed. GOOOD ART utilizes the pure substance which is imagination. So, yes, Avatar is not GOOOD ART because the imagination which created it was pressured by the reality of the blockheads and greenies in Hollywood, yet it still has the characteristics of what good art does, because Jake Sully does "escape" from reality. It isn't good art because he escapes to the real wish of blockheads. At least some escaping is going on though. And it works on a technical level, and at the very least, it reminds us that we do have imaginations. Escapism is good.
January 14, 2010
diversion
sorry to tone down the stream of pedanticism a.d.o.v. has going here, but the second panel of today's hark, a vagrant is simply to die for.
omg. so good.
it strikes me suddenly that kate beaton is the closest thing to edward gorey these days, which is nice because hey, she's better than most, but lamentable, because she's still a long shot from the morbidity of gorey. seems like by now there'd have been an even gorier gorey, but sadly, not the case.
p.s. i can't say that i read the entire avatar proceedings on this blog, but oh man, did not that movie suck in so many ways?
omg. so good.
it strikes me suddenly that kate beaton is the closest thing to edward gorey these days, which is nice because hey, she's better than most, but lamentable, because she's still a long shot from the morbidity of gorey. seems like by now there'd have been an even gorier gorey, but sadly, not the case.
p.s. i can't say that i read the entire avatar proceedings on this blog, but oh man, did not that movie suck in so many ways?
Zorba the Greek (Kazantzakis)
The main body of fiction I've been reading on my own recently seems tinged with a statement that I recall vaguely from Camus: 'we seek in our art to portray not characters, but situations.' Cormac McCarthy and Milan Kundera would agree, to a large extent, with Camus' statement, but Nikos Kazantzakis would not. Both Fratricides and Zorba the Greek are driven by fascinating characters in the line of Sancho Panza, Jack Falstaff, and the Wife of Bath; or, to use a more recent parallel, Henderson the Rain King. Indeed, not since Henderson last summer has a character jumped out of the book the way Zorba did.
Zorba the Greek details a scholar's introduction to the world as seen through Alexis Zorba's eyes. The bookworm narrator turns from the otherworldly, dusty chrysalis of the library to an eminently quotidian business in Crete. The efficient cause of the transformation is Zorba, whom the narrator meets on the ship to Crete. Zorba has just been released for beating up his last boss. Why?, asks the narrator. Zorba answers, "'Well, you know the tale of the miller's wife don't you? Well, you don't expect to learn spelling from her backside, do you? The backside of the miller's wife, that's human reason.' I had read many definitions of human reason. This one seemed to me the most astounding of all, and I liked it" (11). So too did I. The book's imagery is very simple, by which I mean persistently repetitive, but reading the book, I was never bored by the literariness of everything, because Kazantzakis, like Zorba, has the ability to see the world with fresh eyes every day. What makes the book brilliant are the stories woven into the theme of rebirth. Old wives' tales of religion, tales of brave deeds, parabolic tales, tales of conquest in love and war, all come together in a dance of friendship between two men, friendship that is a concrete portrayal of C. S. Lewis' agape.
I have spent a great deal of effort trying to convince my sophomore writing class that the morals at the end of Aesop's fables are not necessary to the delight of the story itself; I stress here that the following is not some 'moral' that wraps up the novel neatly; it definitely isn't even representative of most of Zorba's stories throughout the book; but, it is an important thing to remember.
Hussein Aga said, "Alexis, I'm going to tell you a secret. Listen, little one: neither the seven stories of heaven nor the seven stories of earth are enough to contain God; but a man's heart can contain him. Do be careful, Alexis--and may my blessing go with you--never to wound a man's heart!" (278).
The main body of fiction I've been reading on my own recently seems tinged with a statement that I recall vaguely from Camus: 'we seek in our art to portray not characters, but situations.' Cormac McCarthy and Milan Kundera would agree, to a large extent, with Camus' statement, but Nikos Kazantzakis would not. Both Fratricides and Zorba the Greek are driven by fascinating characters in the line of Sancho Panza, Jack Falstaff, and the Wife of Bath; or, to use a more recent parallel, Henderson the Rain King. Indeed, not since Henderson last summer has a character jumped out of the book the way Zorba did.
Zorba the Greek details a scholar's introduction to the world as seen through Alexis Zorba's eyes. The bookworm narrator turns from the otherworldly, dusty chrysalis of the library to an eminently quotidian business in Crete. The efficient cause of the transformation is Zorba, whom the narrator meets on the ship to Crete. Zorba has just been released for beating up his last boss. Why?, asks the narrator. Zorba answers, "'Well, you know the tale of the miller's wife don't you? Well, you don't expect to learn spelling from her backside, do you? The backside of the miller's wife, that's human reason.' I had read many definitions of human reason. This one seemed to me the most astounding of all, and I liked it" (11). So too did I. The book's imagery is very simple, by which I mean persistently repetitive, but reading the book, I was never bored by the literariness of everything, because Kazantzakis, like Zorba, has the ability to see the world with fresh eyes every day. What makes the book brilliant are the stories woven into the theme of rebirth. Old wives' tales of religion, tales of brave deeds, parabolic tales, tales of conquest in love and war, all come together in a dance of friendship between two men, friendship that is a concrete portrayal of C. S. Lewis' agape.
I have spent a great deal of effort trying to convince my sophomore writing class that the morals at the end of Aesop's fables are not necessary to the delight of the story itself; I stress here that the following is not some 'moral' that wraps up the novel neatly; it definitely isn't even representative of most of Zorba's stories throughout the book; but, it is an important thing to remember.
Hussein Aga said, "Alexis, I'm going to tell you a secret. Listen, little one: neither the seven stories of heaven nor the seven stories of earth are enough to contain God; but a man's heart can contain him. Do be careful, Alexis--and may my blessing go with you--never to wound a man's heart!" (278).
January 7, 2010
In response to Chelsea's post earlier this month about Avatar.
In response to Chelsea's post earlier this month about Avatar.
Firstly, if you have not seen the movie, only see it in 3D.
I wonder how seriously we should be taking this film in the first place. It seems to me that in 20 years our kids are going to be seeing this movie and laughing at the goofy special effects and how it's all about 'going green.'
To:
I respond that Mike gave a sufficient (literary) answer, saying that indeed the Navi are more human than the humans in the movie. I don't think that Joe Plumber on the street is going to go out and try to become a blue monkey.
The movie is creative, yes. I have a hard time considering this movie as great art since it is primarily a sugar coated piece of propaganda, a mere analogy. It has potential in its appeal to myth and heroism—Avatar brings up questions of heroism, the human heart in conflict, and the good life, but more like Disney's approach to Heracles or Robin Hood.
The movie is creative and has novel artifice, by which I mean that the special effects are never-before-seen, well rendered, explosive, and inventive. But I do not think that the movie approached any level of profundity at all. The tragically hopeless undertone that you were sensing Chelsea, is what I took to be the movie's [not so] hidden message: Jake says something to the effect of “We destroyed our mother (earth).” I guess that means we as humans today seeing this movie ought then to save the earth from being destroyed. Trite—we all picked up on that.
Artistically irresponsible, yes. Worth making a big deal about, perhaps.
Why is it that Avatar was the straw that broke the camel's back? There have been many artistically irresponsible movies than this in the past. If this is simply a smaller piece of a larger irritation, Chelsea, I would like to know what that is. Can you flush this out a bit more?
Firstly, if you have not seen the movie, only see it in 3D.
I wonder how seriously we should be taking this film in the first place. It seems to me that in 20 years our kids are going to be seeing this movie and laughing at the goofy special effects and how it's all about 'going green.'
To:
“Reality and fantasy are too intertwined to actually send the message of embracing a "new lifestye." We will constantly be asking ourselves what is the best way to be humans--and this is a good thing--yet the movie is offering that the best way is a way completely other than our own...He completely renounces his humanity. I argue that this is fundamentally different than our struggle to discover the best way to live as humans and has a tragically hopeless and irresponsible undertone.”
I respond that Mike gave a sufficient (literary) answer, saying that indeed the Navi are more human than the humans in the movie. I don't think that Joe Plumber on the street is going to go out and try to become a blue monkey.
The movie is creative, yes. I have a hard time considering this movie as great art since it is primarily a sugar coated piece of propaganda, a mere analogy. It has potential in its appeal to myth and heroism—Avatar brings up questions of heroism, the human heart in conflict, and the good life, but more like Disney's approach to Heracles or Robin Hood.
The movie is creative and has novel artifice, by which I mean that the special effects are never-before-seen, well rendered, explosive, and inventive. But I do not think that the movie approached any level of profundity at all. The tragically hopeless undertone that you were sensing Chelsea, is what I took to be the movie's [not so] hidden message: Jake says something to the effect of “We destroyed our mother (earth).” I guess that means we as humans today seeing this movie ought then to save the earth from being destroyed. Trite—we all picked up on that.
Artistically irresponsible, yes. Worth making a big deal about, perhaps.
Why is it that Avatar was the straw that broke the camel's back? There have been many artistically irresponsible movies than this in the past. If this is simply a smaller piece of a larger irritation, Chelsea, I would like to know what that is. Can you flush this out a bit more?
January 6, 2010
Gloom and Sadness Fill the Air
But Happy Birthday to Lord Bloch.
Ahem....
Thought for the day...
Without the birth of this Bloch, how could the birth of this blog have ever come about?
A day of rejoicing for all, to say the least.
Cheers! and Cheese sticks all around...
January 3, 2010
"The Intellectual and Moral Character of the People"
I want to offer two excerpts that I have come across as we move from 2009 to 2010, that really strike me and have stuck with me as I reflect on the state of our nation/ governement.
- "Only the combination of the intemperateness of lustfulness with the lazy inertia incapable of generating anger is the sign of complete and virtually hopeless degeneration. It appears whenever a caste, a people, or a whole civilization is ripe for its decline and fall." ~from Josef Pieper's Four Cardinal Virtues, chapter on Temperance
- "The preservation of liberty depends upon the intellectual and moral character of the people. As long as knowledge and virtue are diffused generally among the body of a nation, it is impossible they should be enslaved..."~from John Adams by David McCullough, an excerpt that Adams wrote for a tentative oration at Braintree that he never actually made
Now both of these are somewhat disturbing as they alarmingly describe much of our society right now. But, I am ever the eternal optimist and upon reading both of these, found them to be somewhat inspiring and hopeful because they show us an answer and provide a call to action.
If we do not want to be "ripe for our deline and fall" or enslaved, then we should strive to quench intemperate lust, and not give into the lazy inertia that allows us to forgive injustice too easily; we should strive to cultivate knowledge and virtue generally among all members of society, and set the standard high for the intellectual and moral character of our nation and our leaders.
Challenging, yet encouraging. Goal: diffuse knowledge and virtue among inner city Chicago girls. I'll get back to you on the results.
Dr. Louise Cowan on 'The Authority of the Teacher'
I was looking at the website for the Dallas Institute, because I am considering attending their summer program for teachers, when I happened upon a video that I found inspirational and edifying.
This video is a filmed address by Dr. Louise Cowan on the 25th Anniversary of the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture. The address is about a half an hour long, so make sure that you give yourself enough time to sit down and listen. If you are a teacher or are thinking about becoming one, then commit yourself to listening to this excellent speech. Dr. Cowan has shares her insights on literature, the role of the teacher as bearer of the Western Heritage, and moreover, Louise practices exactly what she preaches.
http://www.dallasinstitute.org/listenandview_video.html
January 2, 2010
Avatar
A 3-D CGI cinema experience, $300 billion dollar budget, and 3 hours of "revolutionary, Hollywood-blockbuster, visual eye-candy..." well, here are three reasons why I think Avatar was a bad movie. (And further, that it was deceptively bad, because it looked so good):
1. It is anti-human. (forget mere claims of anti-American, anti-military)
2. It offers no avenue or inspiration of hope, and instead offers a cynical, sparkly, appeal-to-the emotions message that we are doomed
3. It is artistically and creatively irresponsible
If anyone reading this has talked to me in the past two weeks, you have probably witnessed my bizarrely indignant, and deeply disturbed reaction to James Cameron's Avatar. I have read my fill of reviews out there of the movie, trying to synthesize what about it troubled me so much. If you haven't seen the movie, I encourage you to read some reviews (good and bad) to get a sense of the plot. (Spoiler alert)
Perhaps what I am angry about is a bigger issue of the movie industry in general, but stories have a profound impact on us as people. Those who write stories should be held accountable for the messages that they send and the commentary that they make about the human condition. Many have argued that Jake Sully is just choosing a different life-- one that is more suitable in his eyes than the way the humans in the movie are living--and that when he becomes his Na'vi avatar-self, it could be likened to someone embracing a new culture or race's lifestyle.
Even if that is true - the metaphor is a poor one and one that will be missed by most people. Reality and fantasy are too intertwined to actually send the message of embracing a "new lifestye." We will constantly be asking ourselves what is the best way to be humans--and this is a good thing--yet the movie is offering that the best way is a way completely other than our own.
I disagree. The movie is a projection of human life as we know it, and his disowns his human self. He completely renounces his humanity. I argue that this is fundamentally different than our struggle to discover the best way to live as humans and has a tragically hopeless and irresponsible undertone. I know that it is fantasy, but you cannot separate your human understanding of a fantasy world. This allegory about two cultures will have an impact on people viewing the movie, whether you want to admit it or not, and the human being in the story disowns his people, changing his essence. (and here I am not even going to go into the tree worshiping religious aspect that completely plays on people's spiritually emotional side...but I encourage someone else to take it up)
The movie is not merely an attempt to discover a better way to be human, it is offering the solution that this alien people have life figured out better than we do. This offers no hope for the current state we are in, because we are human and cannot renounce that. Again, maybe I am being too ideal, but our stories--even ones for entertainment--need to offer hope or commentary that leads us to something better and this movie does neither.
Artistically irresponsible? James Cameron has drawn upon some of the most creative minds and sources of human ingenuity to make a piece of widely acclaimed eye-candy, that cynically comments on the way we are treating the earth, (how much better off we would be if the creative ingenuity had been directed towards a productive innovation that serves society) and offers no solution for harmony or hope, so leaves the viewer 3-Dimensionally delighted and... uninspired.
Please friends, comment!
1. It is anti-human. (forget mere claims of anti-American, anti-military)
2. It offers no avenue or inspiration of hope, and instead offers a cynical, sparkly, appeal-to-the emotions message that we are doomed
3. It is artistically and creatively irresponsible
If anyone reading this has talked to me in the past two weeks, you have probably witnessed my bizarrely indignant, and deeply disturbed reaction to James Cameron's Avatar. I have read my fill of reviews out there of the movie, trying to synthesize what about it troubled me so much. If you haven't seen the movie, I encourage you to read some reviews (good and bad) to get a sense of the plot. (Spoiler alert)
Perhaps what I am angry about is a bigger issue of the movie industry in general, but stories have a profound impact on us as people. Those who write stories should be held accountable for the messages that they send and the commentary that they make about the human condition. Many have argued that Jake Sully is just choosing a different life-- one that is more suitable in his eyes than the way the humans in the movie are living--and that when he becomes his Na'vi avatar-self, it could be likened to someone embracing a new culture or race's lifestyle.
Even if that is true - the metaphor is a poor one and one that will be missed by most people. Reality and fantasy are too intertwined to actually send the message of embracing a "new lifestye." We will constantly be asking ourselves what is the best way to be humans--and this is a good thing--yet the movie is offering that the best way is a way completely other than our own.
I disagree. The movie is a projection of human life as we know it, and his disowns his human self. He completely renounces his humanity. I argue that this is fundamentally different than our struggle to discover the best way to live as humans and has a tragically hopeless and irresponsible undertone. I know that it is fantasy, but you cannot separate your human understanding of a fantasy world. This allegory about two cultures will have an impact on people viewing the movie, whether you want to admit it or not, and the human being in the story disowns his people, changing his essence. (and here I am not even going to go into the tree worshiping religious aspect that completely plays on people's spiritually emotional side...but I encourage someone else to take it up)
The movie is not merely an attempt to discover a better way to be human, it is offering the solution that this alien people have life figured out better than we do. This offers no hope for the current state we are in, because we are human and cannot renounce that. Again, maybe I am being too ideal, but our stories--even ones for entertainment--need to offer hope or commentary that leads us to something better and this movie does neither.
Artistically irresponsible? James Cameron has drawn upon some of the most creative minds and sources of human ingenuity to make a piece of widely acclaimed eye-candy, that cynically comments on the way we are treating the earth, (how much better off we would be if the creative ingenuity had been directed towards a productive innovation that serves society) and offers no solution for harmony or hope, so leaves the viewer 3-Dimensionally delighted and... uninspired.
Please friends, comment!
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